Josh King

Galatians 3:1-6 & Stupid

I have been bewitched several times, this is one:

I was bewitched that if I was a cowboy I would be cool. So I bought wranglers, a big belt with a big buckle, and a hat. It was painful to wear these items. This is not meant to be offensive to wrangler wearers or cowboys, only to say that I find this attire equally as painful as a suit and tie. I was duped.

I’m listening to this great British guy named John R.W. Stott on my iPod right now. He wrote a book about the cross that I am mad I went through seminary without someone telling me “you must read this book before you graduate and we will make you wear a cowboy hat until you do”. Anyway, back to my listening. I downloaded a few of his sermons on the cross (you can do so here for free after registering). I love Stott because the cross is central, essential to everything for him.

I have never left the theology in this text as a cherished doctrine. I leave it as a lifestyle. I leave it as a love. I leave it as my focus. I think of it too little. I try to commune with God based on other means. I forget the depth of love and holiness shown there. I am stupid. If ever there was a time to identify one as stupid it is when a Christian forgets the centrality of the cross.

The amplified bible says it like this:

O you poor and silly and thoughtless and unreflecting and senseless Galatians!

Or JB Phillips put it this way:

O you dear idiots of Galatia

We must fight against being duped. May our eyes constantly be fixed upon Christ and Him crucified.

Galatians 2:15-21 & Air

Justification by faith…

How many times a week do you reflect on that phrase?

Rarely? What has so happened to evangelical Christianity that we scarcely reflect, understand, and love this doctrine? Martin Luther said:

If the article of justification be once lost, then all true Christian doctrine is lost.

Do we treat this doctrine like that? Or has it become as light as air to us. I rarely appreciate breathing. Usually it takes a punch in the gut, choking, or being held underwater for me to think, “You know this whole air thing is pretty great, I sure would love to put some of that in my lungs right now.” Have we taken this whole thing for granted? Are we acting as if this air is something that should always be there for us? “He gave us lungs; He ought to give us air.”

How can a generation be awakened to see the preciousness of this truth like Luther did?

I think we need to realize that because of sin we are not on the surface, we are underwater. Air is precious. We are:

swimming,

drowning,

sinking in sin.

We live in this water of sin. There is no surface. We need air or we die. Justification is this air, and it comes completely by grace and faith. We have been given an air hose in promise that upon death we will surface never to swim in this liquid sin again.

To see the beauty of this gift we must see the depths of our sin.

We must remember we need this work of Christ like we need air, continually.

Today I urge you:

Breathe!

Galatians 2:11-14 & Paul or Peter

Paul loved the gospel. Paul loved for people to be genuinely riveted to the gospel. Peter loved the gospel. Peter loved for people to be genuinely riveted to the gospel. But in this moment, one loved their ego, reputation, or standing more than they loved to see people genuinely rived to the gospel.

Which one are you?

A courageous lover of men (Paul)?

Or a cowardly lover of self (peter)?

I think I am Peter too often. Many people think that conflict is incompatible with love. Often because of our depravity much conflict occurs because of hate. But that is not to say it is incompatible with love. When a mother has conflict with her child over playing with matches this is not driven by hate, but by love. Often it is the person who avoids conflict that is the least loving. They care more about their appearance than your good.

I read a book by Francis Schaeffer (see pg. 17, 18 of don’t waste your life) this week titled The God Who is There. I mean look at the guy. Are you not absolutely assured that his writing must certainly be a blast? It is like seeing David Crowder, Bob Dylan, or Charles surgeon – these people just have an appearance about them that says fun.

Anyway here is this amazing smart man who sees huge holes and inconsistencies in modern philosophy and yet he confronts them in such gentle love:

When we have the opportunity to talk to the non-Christian, what (if not the formula mentality) should be the dominate consideration? I think this should be love. I think these things turn on love and compassion on people not as objects to evangelize, but as people who deserve all the love and consideration we can give them, because they are our kind, and made in the image of God. They are valuable, so we should meet them in love and compassion. Thus, we meet the person where he or she is.

Earlier, after speaking of the despair modern man comes to he says:

These painting, these poems, and these demonstrations which we have been talking about are the expression of men who are struggling with their appalling lostness. Dare we laugh at such things? Dare we feel superior when we view their tortured expressions in their art? Christians should stop laughing and take such men seriously. Then we shall have the right to speak again to such men seriously. These men are dying while they live; yet where is our compassion for them? There is nothing more ugly than a Christian orthodoxy without understanding or without compassion.

So do we confront? Yes, but only with our hearts full of compassion and love. Hearts that realize that the depths of the depravity we see in the world lie in our hearts and would take us over if not for the grace of God, the very grace they too need. Our love for the gospel should always be in obedience to the first and second commandment.

Galatians 2:1-10 & Me, Me, Me Pt.2

We are now homeowners. And I am terrified. Not at the expense. Not at signing an endless amount of paperwork. Not at the massive amount of debt that we are now committed to. Not at all the painting that needs to be done. Not at the work of moving. No these things may cause stress, but they are not the source of my fear. I deeply long to communicate to the world that my ultimate treasure is in God, that heaven is my home, that my happiness flows from above, that I am not banking on this life. Bethany and I happened to find a large home in our price range; a home we hope to grow into, but still much more home than we needed. My fear is that when people see such a large home (realize large is relative) they will think that:

1) I love my Jesus because I believe that He gives me good things such as this house

2) I love the things of this world and Jesus is just a nice thing to tack on, like an insurance policy.

3) That following Jesus and prosperity are synonymous or that following Jesus does not involve sacrificial living.

It terrifies me to think that I might shame the gospel. So I must fight. At all cost I must seek ways to communicate that I am not living for my house, or my car, or my iPod. I want to give more than I have received. I want to sacrifice. And I pray that my heart does not grow fond of painted wood and the glory of man.

The gospel I love is bigger than any comforts, joys, or pleasures in this life. In all of my living I hope to put the gospel first. To put its proclamation above all that I may desire. I hope I have not run in vain (Gal. 2:2). I pray I yield not to a false gospel (2:5). I desire that I always remember the poor (2:10).

Galatians 1:11-24 & Me, Me, Me

When is it alright to be about me, me, me (agent smith)? Ever?

Is there a way that I could be about me so that is it not about me at all?

This is dangerously fragile ice we are walking on here. Pride is a viper:

Pride is the worst viper in the heart; it is the first sin that ever entered into the universe, lies lowest of all in the foundation of the whole building of sin, and is the most secret, deceitful, and unsearchable in its ways of working, of any lusts whatever. It is ready to mix with everything; and nothing is so hateful to God, contrary to the spirit of the gospel, or of so dangerous consequence; and there is no one sin that does so much let in the devil into the hearts of the saints, and expose them to his delusions. I have seen it in many instances, and that in eminent saints. The devil has come in at this door presently after some eminent experience and extraordinary communion with God, and has woefully deluded and led them astray, till God has mercifully opened their eyes and delivered them; and they themselves have afterwards been made sensible that it was pride that betrayed them. – Jonathan Edwards

So is Paul prideful in this passage? Does this sound like the Paul who would write in this same letter “far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…”(Gal. 6:14)?

Think of it like this, what could be so precious to Paul that would cause him to tread such treacherous ground? What treasured truth was in danger that Paul would risk going so close the edge of a dangerous precipice?

Is it his hair, his style, his camel, his friends?

Galatians 1:6-10 & Imitations

[www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTc_FoELt8s]

Imitations are rarely funny.

Sam’s Choice Cola vs. Coca Cola – not funny.

Great Value chocolate cookies vs. Oreos – not funny

Dollar store soldiers vs. GI Joes – not funny

Splenda sweet tea vs. sugar sweet tea – seriously not funny

Yesterday the TV was left on while Bethany and I were jostling around the house doing some chores. When I returned to the living room Dogma was on. It was the scene where they have decided to replace the crucifix with a friendlier icon. They then reveal buddy Jesus.

Buddy Jesus vs. crucified and risen Jesus – intolerably not funny.

Does this sound similar to flannel graph Jesus?

The gospel is not a thing, it is a He. So if we manipulate the gospel in order to make it more palatable we tell Jesus, “Sorry ‘buddy’, you needed a makeover. That image went out two millennia ago. The blood, the cross, the shame – not ‘cool’.”

To change the gospel you must change a GOD who says he is immutable (doesn’t change). How crazy is it when the creature tells the creator what image is now “in’ for deity, and that if He could match that image He really would sell better to the masses?

Some imitations are simply not funny.

Others are intolerable.

This one is intolerable. Any perversion of the gospel is not a matter of taste or opinion. It is a matter of the glory of God. Settle for no substitutes.

Galatians 1:1-5 & Spaghettios Revisited

Spaghettios – they are a staple for my sermon illustrations. Here is yet another instance demonstrating the spiritual nature of the spaghetti-o.do you remember when there were only two basic food groups? Fruity Pebbles and Spaghettios. Of course there are substitutes; you may exchange the Pebbles for Frosted Flakes, Cap’n Crunch, or Cinnamon Toast Crunch. And if not Spaghettios, you surely were addicted to beef raviolis (there is no way that is beef), chicken fingers (don’t chickens have large talons), or mac and cheese.

Anyway, you ate a lot of them. You thought it blasphemy when you were first introduced to the pagan symbol known as the food pyramid! you ate so much that your mom loudly proclaimed “if you eat any more of those, you are going to turn into a Spaghettio!” did she think this would work as a deterrent? What could be more spectacular than being a giant Spaghettio? You could roll everywhere you wanted to go. Imagine the publicity.

We become what we worship. It’s why boys wear capes and girls like to dress up like beauty queens.

I listened to Mark Driscoll talk about preaching for 2hours and 17 minutes on Friday. It was great. I bundled up a bunch of brush in my back yard; he was still coming though my ear buds. I took the dogs for a walk, they were panting, Mark was still going. I did some laundry, it was folded, not mark.

One of the things he mentioned was how theology should lead to doxology, and then onto biography.

Theology = theos (God) + logos (speech, expression) or words about God.

Doxology = doxa (to glory or praise) + logos or praise/worship toward God

Biography = bio (life) + graphia (record, account) or the story of your life

So as we go through Galatians, as you read scripture, or when you hear biblical preaching, those very words about God need to affect your heart resulting in praise. And because you become what you worship, these very words of God will change your life (biography).

This is why reading the bible primarily as a book about God is infinitely superior to reading it as a rule book/field manual. With a rule book I can only change what I am doing. By seeing and worshiping a glorious God I am changed (2 Cor. 3:18). It is infinitely superior because God is infinitely more glorious than my works (and this is key to what the book of Galatians is all about).

Taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8), way better than Spaghettios

Bunyan a Fun-One

Addendum to pilgrims:
I listened to a sermon about Bunyan later today. Bunyan said the following in a book called “the greatness of the soul” in reference to the need for endurance in following CHRIST.

Following of me [Christ] is not like following of some other masters. The wind sits always on my face and the foaming rage of the sea of this world, and the proud and lofty waves thereof do continually beat upon the sides of the bark or ship that myself, my cause, and my followers are in; he therefore that will not run hazards, and that is afraid to venture a drowning, let him not set foot into this vessel.

If you are doing this Christian thing because it seemed like a “good, nice, clean, American, healthy” way to live in this life, you might want to read the gospels. You do not follow Christ for the rewards in this life. There are rewards, but they are not worth the cost if there is nothing beyond this life (I Cor. 15:19). Paul and Bunyan seemed to think that the Christian life was so costly that the only reason to live in such a way was the hope of the eternal reward of Christ.

It seems Jesus lived this way too, you know with the cross and all.

And isn’t it a cross we are called to bear?

Discipleship costs a lot in this world.

Worldliness costs a lot in the next.

Which one are you living for?

Bunyan lost his wife, leaving him with four children, one of them blind. He remarried only to be thrown in prison one year later. He spent 12 years in prison for preaching the gospel. It was here that he wrote the jewel “the pilgrim’s progress”. The glory came after the suffering. The suffering is what birthed the glory. He was a pilgrim living for another world.

The Song

No milk for my routine once again (April, 10). God is sovereign over all, especially the milk supply. I stop at daylight to grab some chocolate milk and kolaches, settle into my office to violate my normal routine of going straight into my quite time, reasoning that I need my energy and focus to be full upon the word of God. So I eat my nutritious breakfast and read some blogs (funny, I read few blogs until I started writing one). First stop desiring GOD and I read this – interesting!

So I click the link to read more of the story here – amazing!

Finally I go to the original source to get the long version – deeply convicting!

I live this way too often.

You live this way too often.

DON’T

There is a Song playing, one that we were meant to be:

Swept up in

Captivated by

Left in awe of

We should dance to it, sing to it, rejoice in it, and fear our senses growing numb to it as they often do to our favorite song. Don’t you hate how the most amazing songs grow old? What song do you wish you could hear again for the first time?

“With or Without You”?

“I Will Not Be Silent/Make a Joyful Noise”?

“What You Want”?

“Yellow”?

There is no song like this Song. We were made to adore and worship beauty. No one should briskly breeze by the Grand Canyon without reflection. No one should fail to dance to the King’s Song.

This fits so perfectly with what we are going to talk about at the yoke next week.

Come; get swept up into the rhythm.

Dyson

I bought my wife a Dyson vacuum for Valentine’s Day!

I know. How romantic huh? I really am the romantic between the two of us. I used to do the candlelight and flowers thing. I would receive a courteous “thanks”. Soon I was told to never buy flowers again; they just die. So I bought a label maker. She was ecstatic! Hmmm… maybe I’m on to something. Next, a paper shredder. Again, joy! Ah-mazing!

Frodo and Sam (our two shelties) shed an outrageous amount of hair. They give birth to several miniature furball versions of themselves that float around the house. Our vacuum inhales these little children and nicely collects the litter for us about once a week. In between our little Dustbuster that we received as a wedding gift is used to annihilate their offspring. It is now behaving like a cranky old man. It starts off slow, goes on a rant, and then shuts down in a nap. So I thought the Dyson would be the perfect gift. I was wrong. She was surprised. She loved my effort. But she returned the Dyson.

Now pretend that this was the perfect gift, in which I had poured my very heart and soul; so deeply that my very being was woven into it’s every part. To reject, abuse, mistreat, or return such a gift would be a horrid offense.

I wonder how many of us do this with God’s word? “Thanks God, but can I have some pizza instead?”

I read this sermon by Edwards this morning that gives warning to those who put on a show at church.

When persons thus treat God’s holy ordinances (ordinances in this context = ordained by God as a means of grace; i.e. prayer, worship, preaching, etc.) it tends to beget contempt of them in others. When others see sacred things commonly used so irreverently, and attended with such carelessness and contempt, and treated without any sacred regard; when they see persons are bold with them, treat them without any solemnity of spirit; when they see them thus commonly profaned, it tends to diminish their sense of their sacredness, and to make them seem no very awful things. In short, it tends to embolden them to do the like.

The holy vessels and utensils of the temple and tabernacle were never to be put to a common use, but to be handled without the greatest care and reverence. For if it had been commonly otherwise, the reverence of them could not have been maintained. They would have seemed no more sacred than anything else. So it is in the ordinances of Christian worship.

I really want to address just one problem I see in our group—bringing your bible to church. If a visitor comes to church and sees a group of students who bring their Bibles, dive into them when we read them, and mark their bibles up, perhaps they will see that the Scriptures are no lite thing. But if they see students who say they are Christians, who do not bring their Bibles or do not take them seriously, how can they take us seriously when we tell them what the Bible says?

Please, if you are not going to bring your bible, consider not telling the visitors that you are a Christian, you might breed contempt for the Word of God! Why tell someone you are something if you have no plans on acting like it? Or would you rather have pizza?